A Different Kind of Calling
by Sincerely Athena
Summary: The war was over. And along with that, many other things were over too. There was no call for her medical skills any more. There was no need for her shinobi expertise. But most of all, in these newly developing lands, there was no longer a want for her kind. And just like that, fate (or was it Naruto's fault?) found a different kind of calling for her.


**A Different Kind of Calling**

**A/N: **'thoughts' "talking"

I'll be honest- I'm a lazy shit.

The only reason I'm even bothering to write this, is in the hopes that it gets a bit more popular and others start writing stories with Sakura and the 'Free!' Gang xD

I much prefer reading than expending the energy to create my own stories (not that I'm particularly good at it anyway….)

So…yeah. Erm. Enjoy? (–ifyoucan-)

* * *

Title: A Different Kind of Calling

Rating: T ? (I might change it in the future, I'm not sure)

Author: SincerelyAthena

Summary: The war was over. And along with that, many other things were over too. There was no call for her medical skills any more. There was no need for her shinobi expertise. But most of all, in these newly developing lands, there was no longer a _want_ for her kind. And just like that, fate _(or was it Naruto's fault?)_ found a different kind of calling for her.

* * *

Trees were passing by at a swift pace.

The wind was pushing back at her hair and the sounds of nature surrounded her. She'd be reaching the next town soon and would have to stock up on supplies again. The monotony of it all was starting to set in. Up, stretch out, prepare for landing, hit, push off, up, stretch out the body, repeat process. She couldn't help but compare this monotony to her current life.

Everything had just gotten so predictable that she almost wished for the times of the great fourth war.

No. Wait. That was a stupid and silly thing for her to think. Although…wouldn't that technically mean that she would get to see all the others again? Her eyes flickered to her empty side.

No matter. It's not that she wanted to be in the midst of war again, but… would it kill somebody to have some excitement around here? She couldn't decide between throwing a tantrum, or just bashing her head against the nearest tree.

She sighed; they were both equally tempting options.

'The companionship around here is certainly lacking…' She took a quick check of the sun's position and continued on at a steady pace.

There- the town was now in sight. At the next landing she stopped and took a breath. Giving a quick check of her surroundings- something that was hardly necessary anymore really- she lightly pushed of the branch she was standing on and gently landed on the ground.

But hard ingrained habits were difficult to get rid of after all.

Dropping her pack to the ground, she quickly performed the signs and added the appropriate amount of chakra needed for the jutsu. 'Oh Naruto would totally get a kick out of seeing this.'

With a poof, a tall, slender, yet well-built man was revealed. Glossy hair partially hid his left eye and erupted in a spiky style around his head. The rest was casually tied to the bottom left-side and cascaded down the man's shoulder in a sea of light pink colours and stopped below his pectorals- adding to the said man's slightly delicate look.

"...Sexy-no-Jutsu" Sakura muttered.

Pfft, yes. Naruto would _totally_ get a kick out of this, Sakura grumbled to herself. 'Why does my male counterpart get better hair than me? Damn it all..!'

Adding a slight henge to her current form, she made sure to cover the rhombus that stood out proudly on her –normal sized thankyouverymuch! – Forehead. It would do her no good should someone be able to relate it to Tsunade-shishou's Byakugō seal.

With a sigh, she reached down – estimating the difference in the length of her arm- and grabbed her pack.

Beauty- she realised recently- could get you a lot. Females seemed to go 'gaga' over a male with good looks. And she was going to milk that advantage for what it was worth. She herself (the way she looked now anyway) was in no state to go about seducing anyone.

* * *

The town was nothing big or special, but nothing was these days anyway. People were still in the process of rebuilding their lives.

The shops that surrounded her were the generic sort and were nothing more than a few tables set up with tents over them. A clothing shop here, food there, a pharmacy round the corner…

'Oh wait!'

Making a harsh turn to the right, she remembered to take slightly larger steps in her new form, and strode into the pharmacy.

Due to this being one of the more important and necessary needs the villagers had already built this one into a proper building. Everything was placed behind the counter, likely so that there was a lesser chance of items being stolen- a necessary thing these days with the abundance of war orphans.

The selections of herbs were far smaller than that of what she used to personally grow back in her Konoha days, but it looked like what they had would do the job.

Sliding her gaze over to the old lady behind the counter, she mustered up a small smile. She tended to be a bit 'eccentric'; but she was always really nice to her.

"Good afternoon."

The old lady's eyes twinkled behind her round glasses. "Good afternoon my boy, how can I help?"

Pointing towards the individual large canisters, "Can I have four sets of those please?"

"Of course, of course! Mai! Mai-chan please prepare-" The old lady was shouting orders to the person at the back and the sound of someone scurrying around was made. But Sakura had stopped listening. Instead she eyed the small stack of sour candy sticks.

_"Ne! Ne! Sakura-chaaaan! Let's get some sour candy sticks!"_

_"Naruto-baka! You know I hate those!"_

_"Pfft- Sakura-chan you only hate them because they make you pull funny faces! Please? Please Sakura-chan?"_

_A sigh and a gentle bonk to the head._

_"Fine…"_

"-and that will be 30,000 ryo sweetie."

Sakura's head snapped up. "What?" Her cheeks flushed slightly.

The old lady just smiled up at him, mischief shining in her eyes. "Your requested items, dear. They'll be 30,000 ryo."

"Ahh thanks," Sakura quickly reached into her pack and pulled out the correct sum of money.

"Thank you dear," The old lady safely stashed the money away somewhere behind the counter before turning to her again, "are you heading out again sonny?"

"Yes ma'am, there's a place I need to visit…"

"Oh that's a shame; hopefully we'll see you around here again soon then sweetheart. Haven't met a young lad as nice as you since my own days of youth." A mysterious pang went through Sakura's heart at that word. "Mai, my granddaughter, misses you as well you know."

Sakura's mind went blank at that. She turned her head towards Mai –the other worker- and observed the girl. Her cheeks were bright red, her hair slightly askew, and she seemed to be holding onto the doorway like her life depended on it ('if those white knuckles were to say anything').

"…Mai?"

"H-hai! A-ano…how are you?"

And suddenly the gleam of mischief from the old woman, the shyness of this other girl around her, and the old lady's usual strange questions made so much more sense.

"Oh. Oh God, no, I'm-I'm not" –Gay? What the hell- where did this come from? Did she really come across as a lesbian?

The other workers' disappointment was clear, but the old lady was quietly chittering to herself. "Oh dearie me, I mean I had my suspicions, but I suppose this proved it..."

'Huh?!'

"You're gay aren't you, sweetie."

"W-what? No, I'm- I'm not!"

"Oh don't worry darling, I can always fetch you some men."

Sakura's face paled. 'What?! But hadn't she just tried to set her up with her granddaughter…? There is too much insanity involved in this situation.'

The old lady was chuckling to herself by this point. She turned towards Mai and took the items off before placing them inside a plastic bag and handing them over to Sakura.

"Here you go sonny, and come back again soon sweetheart! Don't be shy!"

With that, Sakura turned around and fled the pharmacy.

* * *

The entire ordeal was absolutely mind boggling and confusing as Hell. It didn't make a single shred of sense to her until later on, when she passed by a random shop and happened to glance at her reflection.

…

Her _manly_ reflection.

Oh.

Oh shit.

* * *

**A/N: **Urm, so probably a boring first chapter. But I think I'll make her meet some of the characters from the Free universe in the next chapter. I kind of have a vague idea of how she's gonna land in their world, I only hope I can pull it off.

I think I also might try 'Aims'?

So my 'aim' for the next chapter, is to make it longer and write more pages xD

But guys, seriously, if you have any tips, ideas or suggestions please share them with me. It will all help me in the end to give you a better story :)

And if it's just a, 'Hey! I really liked this!' That's fantastic too! It lets me know that at least someone is reading this and that people are enjoying it~


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